Vignette 1.0
by Gargoyle
Summary: A slice of life of each of the characters in NGE...This is just the first in the series...


Vignette  
By  
Joshua Trujillo  
  
1.0  
  
The rain was incessant. It'd been raining for nearly two weeks. The   
drains had been hard pressed to sluice it away to Lake Oshino   
several miles west. There were still puddles reflecting the gray   
skies above. Occasional flashes of lightening pressed images of the   
city around them into their eyes.  
  
"Shinji, you're an idiot."  
  
Asuka had said the same thing over and over since they'd begun to   
walk home. As they left the Geofront, it had been muggy and still   
wet, but not raining. Rei had bid them goodbye early on and found   
a different way back to her place. Shinji wondered that she could   
tell it was going to rain and shrugged his shoulders. It wouldn't   
really surprise him. The rain began minutes later. Shinji thought it   
was somehow appropriate for his mood. Ritsuko was mad because   
she thought that he wasn't trying on his synch tests. Misato was   
angry because she was having problems with Kaji. And while she   
never took out her anger on either he or Asuka, indeed she was   
quite careful to control her temper, Shinji frequently had to deal   
with her drunken ramblings as a kind of counselor. His father was   
mad at him because Shinji couldn't do anything right for him.   
Asuka was...Asuka. The only person who wasn't angry at him was   
Rei and Shinji felt she was mad too. They passed, side by side,   
under one of the lampposts that lit tiny circles in the hazy night.  
  
"Shinji, you're an idiot."  
  
He'd forgotten the umbrellas. To his credit, she'd forgotten them   
too. They got out of the Geofront too late for the trains to take   
them home. Even the car-train had stopped before they'd left.   
They'd taken a service elevator near the Eva's cooling tanks. It got   
them topside faster than walking up the stairs, but it was also twice   
the distance from home. He'd stopped trying to cover his head   
against the rain two blocks ago. Asuka had given up soon after.   
Misato, who'd gone home several hours before, wanted to pick   
them up, but she'd been drinking. While that wasn't unusual in and   
of itself, it constituted in her more danger than she normally was   
behind the wheel. The only good thing was that the temperatures   
were still warm. It just meant that the misery took longer to set in.   
It had set in about ten yards back.  
  
"Shinji, you're an idiot."  
  
There wasn't any malice behind the words. Oh sure, there was to   
begin with, but that had gotten walked off. Now they were just   
tired and wanted to get home...  
  
"Shinji?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You're an idiot."  
  
"Yeah. Sorry about that."  
  
Asuka scowled underneath her sheath of wet hair. Her hair was   
wet, her clothes were wet, even her neural hairclips were wet. She   
wondered if whatever gods were up there would spare her and   
short out the damned things. She'd go up in a flash of ozone. Nah,   
she wasn't that lucky. Asuka looked up from her trudge. No trains   
ran this late. There were taxis, but that would mean having to go   
more into the city proper. At least they wouldn't have to worry   
about crime out here in suburbia. She scowled again as she glanced   
at Shinji. He looked like he was enjoying the rain. Just like him.   
The rain depressed her. Not as much as a bright spring day, but   
still. Those always gave her mixed emotions. Asuka shook her   
head. She didn't want to think about those things. Asuka shivered.   
She was starting to get cold and she wrapped her arms around her.   
A thought struck her and, as much as the idea appalled her, she   
wasn't getting any warmer. She walked a little closer to Shinji. The   
proximity bothered her, but she didn't know what else to do. And,   
of course, her proximity to him most likely bothered him more.   
They walked through another circle of slight golden-copper light.  
  
"Shinji, I'm cold," she said quietly, "Put your arm around me as we   
walk."  
  
It felt like an eternity of hellish waiting as he awkwardly slipped   
his left arm around her. She felt the contact and her face snapped   
into a scowl as she began to instantly fume.  
  
"I MEANT around my shoulder, you idiot!"  
  
He quickly shifted his grip and Asuka calmed some. She was   
disgusted by his cluelessness, but supposed that he had SOME use.   
She still felt that someone needed to keep him from getting a big   
head and she was perfect for that.  
  
"Shinji," she said softly against him, "You're an idiot."  
  
He said nothing in return. She sighed and unconsciously snuggled   
closer. She knew that she was blushing at the contact. It was all his   
fault, of course. Maybe it was from the cold of the midnight rain   
around them both, she didn't know. Either way, she was glad her   
hair was still plastered to her head. She could feel the heat coming   
from his body and she felt her blush worsen. The heat *did* feel   
good though...  
  
"Shinji?"  
  
There was a slight pause and he gently cleared his throat.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
What was she going to say? The heat just felt good...Another   
moment floated between them...  
  
"Nevermind..."  



End file.
